What do you think?
Rate this book
Alien Overlords #1
His to Claim
My alien overlord is huge, all-powerful, and determined to claim me!
Every human girl growing up on New Terrhan knows one thing… that she will be taken by one or several Xalthurian males when she turns twenty-one. The Xalthurians are rough, domineering, and huge all over. But, this is the deal our leaders struck, so that they would provide our human colony with desperately needed supplies...
If the baby born from our taking is a girl, we will be allowed to keep it. If the baby is a boy, it will be taken away, never to be seen again. That is the way it has always been, on our small planet and that is the way it will always be...
I should accept my fate, but I can’t! When they come for my sister’s baby boy, I dare to defy the alien, they call “Tel”. As it turns out, “Tel” means prince. But rather than killing me for my insolence, the future overlord vows to return to the planet. When I am twenty-one...
He’s huge, all-powerful, and determined to claim me!
Can I stop him?
And how will I answer when the question becomes, do I want to?
270 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 31, 2019
1701 people are currently reading
1878 people want to read
About the author
Taylor Vaughn
15 books294 followersA pseudonym used by Theodora Taylor and Eve Vaughn.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 528 reviews
dnf
November 9, 2020DNF @ 59%
I read romance as a form of escapism. This got into making political statements and I was done. There’s enough of that everywhere else that I don’t want it in my romance book! Especially a freakin’ sci-fi one with an alien and a human! What?! Done. Good thing it was KU
I read romance as a form of escapism. This got into making political statements and I was done. There’s enough of that everywhere else that I don’t want it in my romance book! Especially a freakin’ sci-fi one with an alien and a human! What?! Done. Good thing it was KU
March 11, 2019
Oh my good gosh, I can't wait for you to read this book. It's crazy hot and super romantic and Eve and I are SO EXCITED to share it with you!!!
September 29, 2019
Virus. Xalthuria. New Terrhan. Hu'mans. Treaty. Tel. Two solars. My Kel. Breeding. Kidnapped. New Kel 'D'Rek/Kira Treaty. Kira's teaches. Kel learns. Obsession!
BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Eve Vaughn and Theodora Taylor's collaboration has brought new meaning to sci-fi for me. Two of my favorite authors... "they came, they saw" and kicked butt in writing "Kel D'Rek: His to Claim" and what a claiming it was! With an arrogant blue alpha hero, Kel D'Rek and a fierce and smart heroine Kira, these two will make your laugh, cuss and laugh some more and even scream until you understand how obsessed they really were with one another.
“You forget I am your Kel. I can negotiate a new treaty at any time and with any person I wish. Anything you want, k’vani, I can provide. Name your price.” -Kel D'Rek
H/h might be polar opposites but so passionate with each other once 'My Kel' learned true emotions. Think of Kel initially as Spock from Star Trek, however; when he learned his k'vani and her sweet hot, well read it for yourselves!
"When I first laid eyes on Ki’Ra, I knew she would be trouble. What I did not know was that she would fast become my obsession." - Kel D'Rek
But not only was there a beautiful love story in this racy sci-fi tale, but also another race called the Kaidorians -- savages in comparison to the Xalthurians who needed an agreement to continue their race with the female hu'mans of New Terrhan for breeding purposes. Oh and Kel's duplicitous Prime Minister, N'Ure, N’Maryah, T'Kan and Zinnia!
Although the authors mentioned this would be a trilogy along with the Kaidorians series, I can see some interesting new situations with these series!
Great work Taylor Vaughn!
5++Blue My Kel stars!!!! *****
ARC provided for an honest review!
BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Eve Vaughn and Theodora Taylor's collaboration has brought new meaning to sci-fi for me. Two of my favorite authors... "they came, they saw" and kicked butt in writing "Kel D'Rek: His to Claim" and what a claiming it was! With an arrogant blue alpha hero, Kel D'Rek and a fierce and smart heroine Kira, these two will make your laugh, cuss and laugh some more and even scream until you understand how obsessed they really were with one another.
“You forget I am your Kel. I can negotiate a new treaty at any time and with any person I wish. Anything you want, k’vani, I can provide. Name your price.” -Kel D'Rek
H/h might be polar opposites but so passionate with each other once 'My Kel' learned true emotions. Think of Kel initially as Spock from Star Trek, however; when he learned his k'vani and her sweet hot, well read it for yourselves!
"When I first laid eyes on Ki’Ra, I knew she would be trouble. What I did not know was that she would fast become my obsession." - Kel D'Rek
But not only was there a beautiful love story in this racy sci-fi tale, but also another race called the Kaidorians -- savages in comparison to the Xalthurians who needed an agreement to continue their race with the female hu'mans of New Terrhan for breeding purposes. Oh and Kel's duplicitous Prime Minister, N'Ure, N’Maryah, T'Kan and Zinnia!
Although the authors mentioned this would be a trilogy along with the Kaidorians series, I can see some interesting new situations with these series!
Great work Taylor Vaughn!
5++Blue My Kel stars!!!! *****
ARC provided for an honest review!
April 7, 2019
I love sci-fi/alien romances and was so looking forward to this, the premise and variants of it I’ve read before but this time its execution left a lot to be desired and was in fact terrible.
Every human girl growing up on New Terrhan knows that she when she reaches the age of 21, she will be taken by one or more Xalthurian males, to be breed, permitted to only keep her child if the baby is a girl, baby boys are taken away never to be seen again. The lack of paternal care for the hybrid daughters was something I really didn’t like, nor was I happy with how the Xalthurian treated mothers who had no desire to hand over their sons. Women seem to be only valued for breeding, trade and alliance negotiations.
One scene between Kira and D’Rek was just not ok – he is pissed she’s been talking to a guy and thus decides to . Sounds delightful right, not. After that I skim read just to get to the ending.
The story/writing didn’t flow well for me at the start and the events failed to draw me in. Plus, worldbuilding was lacking massively.
For me this wasn’t a romance, I just didn’t feel any connection between the main characters, apart from obsessive lust. Plus, the spanking as punishment just did not work for me.
Acquired via KU thank goodness.
Every human girl growing up on New Terrhan knows that she when she reaches the age of 21, she will be taken by one or more Xalthurian males, to be breed, permitted to only keep her child if the baby is a girl, baby boys are taken away never to be seen again. The lack of paternal care for the hybrid daughters was something I really didn’t like, nor was I happy with how the Xalthurian treated mothers who had no desire to hand over their sons. Women seem to be only valued for breeding, trade and alliance negotiations.
One scene between Kira and D’Rek was just not ok – he is pissed she’s been talking to a guy and thus decides to . Sounds delightful right, not. After that I skim read just to get to the ending.
The story/writing didn’t flow well for me at the start and the events failed to draw me in. Plus, worldbuilding was lacking massively.
For me this wasn’t a romance, I just didn’t feel any connection between the main characters, apart from obsessive lust. Plus, the spanking as punishment just did not work for me.
Acquired via KU thank goodness.
July 12, 2025
His To Claim byTaylor Vaughn
Genres: Adult, Erotic, Romance, Sci-Fi, Suspense
5 Full Stars
📕🎶 Yes, my copy has a few editing errors. There are a couple of sentence structure problems & words that need correction.
But! (and I do not say this carelessly),
Even with those instances, this story is STILL a solid 5 stars!
The flow is smooth. The story itself is fast paced.
The world build is absolutely amazing. In fact, I have to say,
Best Sci-Fi I have read in a very, very long time.
The various species are well defined. Their cultures, while alien, are not ridiculous nor absurd.
The mc's, Kel D'Rek (The Xalthurian) & Kira (The human from the planet New Terrhan) are amazingly well represented and you will fall in love with both of them.
Their relationship is complex, filled with misunderstandings, emotions, language barriers and cultural differences.
Their intimate scenes are adult. Hot, steamy and beautifully erotic. These scenes are always written in perfect harmony to the story. You never feel like it is just thrown in.
Suspense! Oh My God! The suspense keeps you on your toes and vibrating with that wonderful tensity only truly well done suspense can bring us addicted readers.
There is deceit and treachery.
Betrayal.
Unscrupulous Manipulations.
There is the Kaidorians who have some of the same problems as the Xalthurians.
I didn't just enjoy this story. I ATE IT UP!
The authors and this series is definitely going on my favorites shelf and I will shortly be clicking the follow button.
I wait with great anticipation for the next book in this series!
Genres: Adult, Erotic, Romance, Sci-Fi, Suspense
5 Full Stars
📕🎶 Yes, my copy has a few editing errors. There are a couple of sentence structure problems & words that need correction.
But! (and I do not say this carelessly),
Even with those instances, this story is STILL a solid 5 stars!
The flow is smooth. The story itself is fast paced.
The world build is absolutely amazing. In fact, I have to say,
Best Sci-Fi I have read in a very, very long time.
The various species are well defined. Their cultures, while alien, are not ridiculous nor absurd.
The mc's, Kel D'Rek (The Xalthurian) & Kira (The human from the planet New Terrhan) are amazingly well represented and you will fall in love with both of them.
Their relationship is complex, filled with misunderstandings, emotions, language barriers and cultural differences.
Their intimate scenes are adult. Hot, steamy and beautifully erotic. These scenes are always written in perfect harmony to the story. You never feel like it is just thrown in.
Suspense! Oh My God! The suspense keeps you on your toes and vibrating with that wonderful tensity only truly well done suspense can bring us addicted readers.
There is deceit and treachery.
Betrayal.
Unscrupulous Manipulations.
There is the Kaidorians who have some of the same problems as the Xalthurians.
I didn't just enjoy this story. I ATE IT UP!
The authors and this series is definitely going on my favorites shelf and I will shortly be clicking the follow button.
I wait with great anticipation for the next book in this series!
March 31, 2019
I love science fiction, so you can imagine how excited I was to have the opportunity to read the ARC of Theodora Taylor and Eve Vaughn's new Sci-Fi romance. I wish I could say that it lived up to my expectations. While not an extremely terrible book, it wasn't what I would have expected considering two authors put their minds and creative talents together to write it.
A little non-spoiler overview of the story. On a planet known as New Terrahn, women who have reached the age of 21 are expected to breed with Xalthurians, a dominant and technologically advanced alien species as part of an agreement established years ago. This treaty requires the mothers relinquish their hybrid sons to their alien fathers as a virus has rendered the females on Xalthuria infertile. When one woman attempts to keep her son, the chaos it creates results in her sister Kira capturing the attention of the alien Tel D'Rek who stakes his claim to breed with her and vows to return when she reaches the appropriate age.
My Thoughts in General
While the premise has promise, I frankly found the story a bit lazy. The alien males in need of human women to breed trope is unimaginative and it's featured in so many sci-fi romances that I’ve lost track. To do such a basic trope successfully, the story has to elevate it somehow. Unfortunately, His to Claim, never seemed to reach high enough and failed to intrigue me. In addition, I really found the romance difficult to buy into. Problems that I had:
- I need a reason for the heroine and the hero to fall in love. Sorry I didn’t buy it. Stockholm Syndrome and obsessive lust are not love.
- I find it hard to believe
- Imagine for a moment that the two did fall in love. There’s an incident in which the actions of the hero (term used loosely here) should have obliterated that love into ashes. This fool crossed a line that I think most sane women wouldn’t be able to forgive.
- The world building is minimal at best. Would have loved more detail and attention in this area.
The Positives
What did I like? This is harder for me, but there are a few
- The women of color were described as women of color. I didn’t have to guess or simply assume who was a black woman. This is always appreciated.
- While I may have been disappointed with this book, it appears the ongoing story and the consequences of what transpires in His to Claim will be far-reaching.
- I was admittedly curious at the end.
My Final Thoughts
His to Claim by Theodora Vaughn (Theodora Taylor and Eve Vaughn) fell far short of my expectations. Although I love science fiction, this romance, in my opinion, didn’t make it past tired tropes and an unconvincing love. If that wasn’t enough, a distasteful scene between the two main characters made me want to punch Kel D’Rek in the throat and drag Kira into some much-needed therapy for loving this jerk of an alien. Frankly, I expected so much more from the collaborative effort of two successful writers.
Because I’ve been more or less a fan of both Theodora Taylor (I admittedly was not a fan of her very first book) and Eve Vaughn over the years, I’ll give the second in this series a shot when it is released. I'm hoping that it will improve significantly. As it stands, I wish I could recommend this one but unfortunately, I can’t. I’m giving His to Claim a 2 out of 5 stars.
A little non-spoiler overview of the story. On a planet known as New Terrahn, women who have reached the age of 21 are expected to breed with Xalthurians, a dominant and technologically advanced alien species as part of an agreement established years ago. This treaty requires the mothers relinquish their hybrid sons to their alien fathers as a virus has rendered the females on Xalthuria infertile. When one woman attempts to keep her son, the chaos it creates results in her sister Kira capturing the attention of the alien Tel D'Rek who stakes his claim to breed with her and vows to return when she reaches the appropriate age.
My Thoughts in General
While the premise has promise, I frankly found the story a bit lazy. The alien males in need of human women to breed trope is unimaginative and it's featured in so many sci-fi romances that I’ve lost track. To do such a basic trope successfully, the story has to elevate it somehow. Unfortunately, His to Claim, never seemed to reach high enough and failed to intrigue me. In addition, I really found the romance difficult to buy into. Problems that I had:
- I need a reason for the heroine and the hero to fall in love. Sorry I didn’t buy it. Stockholm Syndrome and obsessive lust are not love.
- I find it hard to believe
- Imagine for a moment that the two did fall in love. There’s an incident in which the actions of the hero (term used loosely here) should have obliterated that love into ashes. This fool crossed a line that I think most sane women wouldn’t be able to forgive.
- The world building is minimal at best. Would have loved more detail and attention in this area.
The Positives
What did I like? This is harder for me, but there are a few
- The women of color were described as women of color. I didn’t have to guess or simply assume who was a black woman. This is always appreciated.
- While I may have been disappointed with this book, it appears the ongoing story and the consequences of what transpires in His to Claim will be far-reaching.
- I was admittedly curious at the end.
My Final Thoughts
His to Claim by Theodora Vaughn (Theodora Taylor and Eve Vaughn) fell far short of my expectations. Although I love science fiction, this romance, in my opinion, didn’t make it past tired tropes and an unconvincing love. If that wasn’t enough, a distasteful scene between the two main characters made me want to punch Kel D’Rek in the throat and drag Kira into some much-needed therapy for loving this jerk of an alien. Frankly, I expected so much more from the collaborative effort of two successful writers.
Because I’ve been more or less a fan of both Theodora Taylor (I admittedly was not a fan of her very first book) and Eve Vaughn over the years, I’ll give the second in this series a shot when it is released. I'm hoping that it will improve significantly. As it stands, I wish I could recommend this one but unfortunately, I can’t. I’m giving His to Claim a 2 out of 5 stars.
March 31, 2019
A treaty between the Xalthurian & Human settlement mandates that all females at twenty one years of age will sexually submit to one of their warriors for the sole purpose of procreation. If the resulting infant is a female, the Human mother will keep her, however, if the infant is a male, the infant will be surrendered to it's Xalthurian father. In exchange, the Human settlement will receive a yearly provision of food stuffs and remain protected.
After seeing what her elder sister went through after she birthed a male child Kira decides she won't submit when it's her time. Fabricating an elaborate hiding place for herself and BFF Zinna, Kira is all set to disappear when the Xalthurians next appear.
Little does Kira realize that she's caught the eye of a certain warrior who intends to claim her and won't be denied.
Having waited until Kira reached twenty one, Tel D'Rek arrives only to find she's not with the other females. Hunting is Tel's specialty as he proceeds to track her down with the sole intent to breed her only to change his mind and potentially negate the terms of the treaty when he decides to keep her.
* * * *
Having read the prequel/preview, I patiently impatiently have been waiting to get my hands on this book.
Things started out with a bang as Tel D'Rek was not going to be denied. He wanted Kira and no one was going to stop him, not even Kira.
Kira on the other hand was a dutiful daughter and sister who was determined to take things into her own hands and not blindly submit to anyone. Additionally, having seen the pain of mothers who had their infant son's ripped out of their hands never to see them again was the most terrifying. The stage was set. It's a battle of the sexes and you have to know that this girl was pulling for Kira.
The overall story line is one of mystery-suspense-espionage-intrigue as the authors provided a world building to sustain a multi book series. I do have to admit that I foresaw two future couples that would be featured in the future and kind of sleuthed out the evil plot/evil element source but the authors made the overall story so engaging that I couldn't fault them. Many times it's the journey to get to the end that is the most enjoyable.
Secondary characters. As this is a new series and new release, I'm going to avoid mentioning anyone as potential readers should have the joy of discovering who the good, the bad, and the ugly are without anyone spoiling the experience.
My issues. Minor and not really to any degree that affected the overall story, a possible copyedit detail had me flipping back and forth to check/verify something that I'm still not certain I caught. Regardless, a well thought out story that I enjoyed and look forward to the next release, whenever that will be.
A book that fans of SciFi Dystopia erotic romance fantasy should definitely check out.
After seeing what her elder sister went through after she birthed a male child Kira decides she won't submit when it's her time. Fabricating an elaborate hiding place for herself and BFF Zinna, Kira is all set to disappear when the Xalthurians next appear.
Little does Kira realize that she's caught the eye of a certain warrior who intends to claim her and won't be denied.
Having waited until Kira reached twenty one, Tel D'Rek arrives only to find she's not with the other females. Hunting is Tel's specialty as he proceeds to track her down with the sole intent to breed her only to change his mind and potentially negate the terms of the treaty when he decides to keep her.
* * * *
Having read the prequel/preview, I patiently impatiently have been waiting to get my hands on this book.
Things started out with a bang as Tel D'Rek was not going to be denied. He wanted Kira and no one was going to stop him, not even Kira.
Kira on the other hand was a dutiful daughter and sister who was determined to take things into her own hands and not blindly submit to anyone. Additionally, having seen the pain of mothers who had their infant son's ripped out of their hands never to see them again was the most terrifying. The stage was set. It's a battle of the sexes and you have to know that this girl was pulling for Kira.
The overall story line is one of mystery-suspense-espionage-intrigue as the authors provided a world building to sustain a multi book series. I do have to admit that I foresaw two future couples that would be featured in the future and kind of sleuthed out the evil plot/evil element source but the authors made the overall story so engaging that I couldn't fault them. Many times it's the journey to get to the end that is the most enjoyable.
Secondary characters. As this is a new series and new release, I'm going to avoid mentioning anyone as potential readers should have the joy of discovering who the good, the bad, and the ugly are without anyone spoiling the experience.
My issues. Minor and not really to any degree that affected the overall story, a possible copyedit detail had me flipping back and forth to check/verify something that I'm still not certain I caught. Regardless, a well thought out story that I enjoyed and look forward to the next release, whenever that will be.
A book that fans of SciFi Dystopia erotic romance fantasy should definitely check out.
May 20, 2020
.
Humans went off course and landed on a crappy, good for nothing planet in the Xalthurian's territory. The Xalthurian's are suffering from infertility (well their women are) and somehow discover that human women can breed with them.
So a generation later, once a year, the 21 year old human women have to gather and be bred/raped by Xalthurians. (The math here would undermine the effectiveness of this policy... I'm just saying...). The aliens will return later to gather any sons that come from the act. There is A LOT of lack of communication between the species.
The Xalthurians pride themselves on following treaties to the letter, to the point of foolishness.
Well Kira is determined to not go through with the breeding ceremony after what her sister went through at the idea of giving up her baby. But of course she gets caught anyways, and by the big guy himself, D'Rek, the Kell (which is Xalthurian for King).
He seems to go into some kinda mating heat from the smell of her vajayjay. He's a big blue guy with a long pointy tongue and red eyes.
Kira is your typical laid back regular human girl. She uses a LOT of idioms and sayings when talking to D'Rek. I found this more annoying than cute, because it would be stupid to talk to an alien that way and hope that they would understand you. They are together for 6 weeks and she doesn't have 'the talk' with him about his misapprehensions of humanity til 70% in. What the hell did they talk about the rest of the time?
And then there's the sex. Lots and lots of it full of blue goo and screaming, but about as sexy as Jordan Silver's stuff.
There is also the enemy of the Xalthurians, the Kaidorians, who are some sort of hive like group also suffering from infertility.
OK plot spoilers ahead, but seriously, you would have seen them coming a mile off anyways. 'Cause this story was predictable to the point of boring. Which is why it took so long to finish.
In attempting to create more cultural differences between humans and Xalthurians, the author has only succeeded in making no sense.
If Xalthurians are a race that doesn't have war and they disparage our human history of duplicity, why are the bad guys duplicitous Xalthurians bent on taking over control from the Kell?
The women Xalthurians don't feel pleasure or pain during sex. How the F' did this race ever survive?
The Xalthurian's have no intonations to their speech to show emotion. I would think that would suggest that there's no such thing as lying or subterfuge in their culture. And yet, there is.
So while the author tries to create an alien culture, she didn't think it through much and undermines it at every opportunity.
I think I would have rather she wrote them as just big colourful guys who happen to be alien, like most other authors in this genre. Her attempt to create a believable alien character was a complete failure.
I doubt I'll read more.
Humans went off course and landed on a crappy, good for nothing planet in the Xalthurian's territory. The Xalthurian's are suffering from infertility (well their women are) and somehow discover that human women can breed with them.
So a generation later, once a year, the 21 year old human women have to gather and be bred/raped by Xalthurians. (The math here would undermine the effectiveness of this policy... I'm just saying...). The aliens will return later to gather any sons that come from the act. There is A LOT of lack of communication between the species.
The Xalthurians pride themselves on following treaties to the letter, to the point of foolishness.
Well Kira is determined to not go through with the breeding ceremony after what her sister went through at the idea of giving up her baby. But of course she gets caught anyways, and by the big guy himself, D'Rek, the Kell (which is Xalthurian for King).
He seems to go into some kinda mating heat from the smell of her vajayjay. He's a big blue guy with a long pointy tongue and red eyes.
Kira is your typical laid back regular human girl. She uses a LOT of idioms and sayings when talking to D'Rek. I found this more annoying than cute, because it would be stupid to talk to an alien that way and hope that they would understand you. They are together for 6 weeks and she doesn't have 'the talk' with him about his misapprehensions of humanity til 70% in. What the hell did they talk about the rest of the time?
And then there's the sex. Lots and lots of it full of blue goo and screaming, but about as sexy as Jordan Silver's stuff.
There is also the enemy of the Xalthurians, the Kaidorians, who are some sort of hive like group also suffering from infertility.
OK plot spoilers ahead, but seriously, you would have seen them coming a mile off anyways. 'Cause this story was predictable to the point of boring. Which is why it took so long to finish.
In attempting to create more cultural differences between humans and Xalthurians, the author has only succeeded in making no sense.
If Xalthurians are a race that doesn't have war and they disparage our human history of duplicity, why are the bad guys duplicitous Xalthurians bent on taking over control from the Kell?
The women Xalthurians don't feel pleasure or pain during sex. How the F' did this race ever survive?
The Xalthurian's have no intonations to their speech to show emotion. I would think that would suggest that there's no such thing as lying or subterfuge in their culture. And yet, there is.
So while the author tries to create an alien culture, she didn't think it through much and undermines it at every opportunity.
I think I would have rather she wrote them as just big colourful guys who happen to be alien, like most other authors in this genre. Her attempt to create a believable alien character was a complete failure.
I doubt I'll read more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2019
well, shit. this was quite enjoyable. better than i imagined.
buddy read with my soul sister
buddy read with my soul sister
September 2, 2019
Kindle Unlimited. Go grab it now. Now. Now.
I’m sorely tempted to bump this to five stars because I can’t stop thinking about it.
The cover....sucks. Not a fan, but don’t let that stop you.
In the future when humanity has over populated earth, there are large ships full of colonists sent out to other planets.
This story revolves around a colony ship that crashed on an unintended planet in an occupied system. The planet ‘New Terra’ is not the most habitable. Hot, dry with red clay soil. The human colonists there would have died if not for the overloards of this star system, the Xalthurians.
The Xalthurians population was decimated by three generations of war & a sterilizing sickness that affected most of their women.
So the deal they struck with the humans was: ‘We drop off a years’ supply of food and goods for you - and you make every woman of 21 years of age available for us for breeding for three hours once a year.
Later on, the resulting sons gets taken back to Xalthia while you humans can keep the females.”
The opening of the book begins with the heroine’s sister trying to keep her son from being taken by the Xalthians.
Sad and dark, but Kira witnesses her beloved sister & nephew fall to their deaths.
So she attacks the leader.
Leader (prince) gets obsessed with Kira & tells her that he will come back for her when she turns 21.
He comes back two years later fixed on her.
She hides and runs. Xalthurians love to chase & hunt.
Starts off a little forced as the aliens women don’t enjoy or hate sex. It’s just a non-event for them.
So the male aliens assume human women are the same. Half the female colonists are traumatized from their experience when they were 21.
But the aliens are a bit lizard-like and get addicted to warm/wet human lady-bits. In fact they call it “the sweet hot”.
There is the expected racism against humans by some of the elitist aliens. Decent villain & set up of future antagonists.
Kira endures some grief and teaches D’rek about love.
Hot sexy scenes
HFN
So very recommended
I’m sorely tempted to bump this to five stars because I can’t stop thinking about it.
The cover....sucks. Not a fan, but don’t let that stop you.
In the future when humanity has over populated earth, there are large ships full of colonists sent out to other planets.
This story revolves around a colony ship that crashed on an unintended planet in an occupied system. The planet ‘New Terra’ is not the most habitable. Hot, dry with red clay soil. The human colonists there would have died if not for the overloards of this star system, the Xalthurians.
The Xalthurians population was decimated by three generations of war & a sterilizing sickness that affected most of their women.
So the deal they struck with the humans was: ‘We drop off a years’ supply of food and goods for you - and you make every woman of 21 years of age available for us for breeding for three hours once a year.
Later on, the resulting sons gets taken back to Xalthia while you humans can keep the females.”
The opening of the book begins with the heroine’s sister trying to keep her son from being taken by the Xalthians.
Sad and dark, but Kira witnesses her beloved sister & nephew fall to their deaths.
So she attacks the leader.
Leader (prince) gets obsessed with Kira & tells her that he will come back for her when she turns 21.
He comes back two years later fixed on her.
She hides and runs. Xalthurians love to chase & hunt.
Starts off a little forced as the aliens women don’t enjoy or hate sex. It’s just a non-event for them.
So the male aliens assume human women are the same. Half the female colonists are traumatized from their experience when they were 21.
But the aliens are a bit lizard-like and get addicted to warm/wet human lady-bits. In fact they call it “the sweet hot”.
There is the expected racism against humans by some of the elitist aliens. Decent villain & set up of future antagonists.
Kira endures some grief and teaches D’rek about love.
Hot sexy scenes
HFN
So very recommended
April 9, 2019
Not great, especially for a "romance"
There's more or less OM/OW stuff because he sleeps with multiple women in the two year gap. I realize there are no actual scenes and he wasn't technically with Kira yet, but they'd met, it was during the book's time, and he knew he was going back to get her when she was old enough. I don't like that. This is a romance. He shouldn't have been with anyone else in the book's timeframe, especially after meeting her, and most especially since he was going to get her eventually. I will always rate romances lower when they have this stuff.
They made clothes out of bark but were able to watch "entertainments?" Weird. Too many issues with how they lived.
Then it got way too political. At least be accurate if you're gonna be political. The problems and wars of Earth were so oversimplified in this book. I get not wanting to go into it much because it would take up time and space in the book, but don't mention it at all if you're going to be totally one-sided. It was like a child's view of things. It was ridiculous. Yes, it was straightened out by Kira later, but it was still an older and partial view of the way humans were. If the point was that the prime minister guy was dumb and got it wrong, fine. I accept that, but if the point was that humans were horrible on actual Earth, then my first comments stand.
Why did he not just tell the Kaidonians in the first place that his race has a treaty with the humans, so they would need one, too, if they wanted to breed with humans? It made no sense that they were asking him for permission, instead of the humans. The whole thing was horrible, but if the Kaidonians wanted a similar treaty, they should have asked the humans, not the Kel and his people. I do realize this was realized and suggested by Kel toward the end, but given the accord he had with the humans, it should have been obvious in the first place, and he should not have ever been deliberating on whether or not he should give half of them to the Kaidonians.
This is a bit of a spoiler, but it's insane for babies to die in a romance novel, especially in a way like that. I'm gonna have nightmares. Seriously, it was awful. It could have been worse, but it was unnecessary for it to happen at all.
Kira got over the torture thing way too fast, and was the hybrid guy ever apologized to by the Kel? Were things changed so that women could talk to men freely or is that one if the female rights things Kira us working on? How many of the aliens knew that the humans really didn't want to breed and knew that they were hurting them? So many questions.
I like this "world", but there are too many unclear things that should have been discussed and too many things that didn't make sense or were really off.
There's more or less OM/OW stuff because he sleeps with multiple women in the two year gap. I realize there are no actual scenes and he wasn't technically with Kira yet, but they'd met, it was during the book's time, and he knew he was going back to get her when she was old enough. I don't like that. This is a romance. He shouldn't have been with anyone else in the book's timeframe, especially after meeting her, and most especially since he was going to get her eventually. I will always rate romances lower when they have this stuff.
They made clothes out of bark but were able to watch "entertainments?" Weird. Too many issues with how they lived.
Then it got way too political. At least be accurate if you're gonna be political. The problems and wars of Earth were so oversimplified in this book. I get not wanting to go into it much because it would take up time and space in the book, but don't mention it at all if you're going to be totally one-sided. It was like a child's view of things. It was ridiculous. Yes, it was straightened out by Kira later, but it was still an older and partial view of the way humans were. If the point was that the prime minister guy was dumb and got it wrong, fine. I accept that, but if the point was that humans were horrible on actual Earth, then my first comments stand.
Why did he not just tell the Kaidonians in the first place that his race has a treaty with the humans, so they would need one, too, if they wanted to breed with humans? It made no sense that they were asking him for permission, instead of the humans. The whole thing was horrible, but if the Kaidonians wanted a similar treaty, they should have asked the humans, not the Kel and his people. I do realize this was realized and suggested by Kel toward the end, but given the accord he had with the humans, it should have been obvious in the first place, and he should not have ever been deliberating on whether or not he should give half of them to the Kaidonians.
This is a bit of a spoiler, but it's insane for babies to die in a romance novel, especially in a way like that. I'm gonna have nightmares. Seriously, it was awful. It could have been worse, but it was unnecessary for it to happen at all.
Kira got over the torture thing way too fast, and was the hybrid guy ever apologized to by the Kel? Were things changed so that women could talk to men freely or is that one if the female rights things Kira us working on? How many of the aliens knew that the humans really didn't want to breed and knew that they were hurting them? So many questions.
I like this "world", but there are too many unclear things that should have been discussed and too many things that didn't make sense or were really off.
March 31, 2019
Kel D'Rek is a fast paced Sci-Fi read about how opposites don't always attract, at least not immediately. When D'Rek and Ki'Ra meets it's not under the best circumstances since it's immediately after Ki'Ra experiences a great personal loss. None of this phases D'Rek since he's use to getting what, and in Ki'Ra's case, who he wants. Be careful what you wish for because D'Rek soon realizes that Ki'Ra is so much more than he bargained for but maybe she is all that he never knew he needed.
I'll admit when I first met D'Rek I wasn't sure if the authors of this book would be able to make him a likable hero for me, but I'm happy that I didn't give up on him. Although I got off to a bumpy start with the hero these very talented authors made him more than likable, even a bit lovable. The story implores you to take a journey with these characters and get to know them before you rush to a snap judgement, because as is in real life, first impressions are not always correct. People, and in this case big blue aliens, can change and things are not always what they seem. The authors did a wonderful job in telling how D'Rek and Ki'Ra's vastly different backgrounds and upbringing had a major effect on how these two races felt about each other, but once they got to know each other personally they found out that they had to makes their own decisions and not let others opinions direct their actions or feelings towards others. I'm glad I decided to give D'Rek a second chance and I look forward to the next book in the series.
I'll admit when I first met D'Rek I wasn't sure if the authors of this book would be able to make him a likable hero for me, but I'm happy that I didn't give up on him. Although I got off to a bumpy start with the hero these very talented authors made him more than likable, even a bit lovable. The story implores you to take a journey with these characters and get to know them before you rush to a snap judgement, because as is in real life, first impressions are not always correct. People, and in this case big blue aliens, can change and things are not always what they seem. The authors did a wonderful job in telling how D'Rek and Ki'Ra's vastly different backgrounds and upbringing had a major effect on how these two races felt about each other, but once they got to know each other personally they found out that they had to makes their own decisions and not let others opinions direct their actions or feelings towards others. I'm glad I decided to give D'Rek a second chance and I look forward to the next book in the series.
April 14, 2019
I LOVE science-fiction themed romance. What's not to love about space ships, interstellar hijinks and sexy first contact? What I'm not so keen on is the "aliens abduct women to have sex with them" trope. Not that I'm against hot and sexy aliens getting their freak on, but there tends to be that dratted "fated mates" thing which is usually handled in such a way as to render the heroine utterly helpless and without agency.
Again, The Fountain Pen Diva's hard and fast rule is that I MUST love the heroine as well as I do the hero. I need to know the heroine (be she human or other being) has AGENCY. In this case, that she can tell said Alien McHottiepants to get bent when he starts that "me alien, you human" nonsense. I also need consistency in the narrative and that sense of being in an alien world.
Unfortunately, His To Claim misses the space ship on some of these. Overall it's not a bad story - alien meets human and unwittingly falls in love. There were some funny cross-cultural moments. But the narrative was all over the place - as the story progressed the male alien - D'rek - started sounding like a typical (and human) alpha male. World-building isn't just about throwing a few made up words like "diijo". Alien world-building, like fantasy world-building, should be immersive. It should sound like a place I can easily imagine yet also unfamiliar.
I do have to say that Kira wasn't as bad as I thought she'd be. Kira was a fighter, at least for the first part of the book. What I hoped was that D'rek's huge equipment wouldn't turn her into a lust puppet. It was a bit of both. I will say there were instances D'rek did respect Kira's boundaries and when she said no, he didn't force himself. Still, I just didn't feel the chemistry between these two. The power differential was too apparent. Their worlds were just too different and given the brevity of the book, wasn't fully explored. Of course, there's a sequel.
There's a lot of sex. And I found myself glossing over it because again, no real chemistry. I just wasn't invested in either character.
Again, The Fountain Pen Diva's hard and fast rule is that I MUST love the heroine as well as I do the hero. I need to know the heroine (be she human or other being) has AGENCY. In this case, that she can tell said Alien McHottiepants to get bent when he starts that "me alien, you human" nonsense. I also need consistency in the narrative and that sense of being in an alien world.
Unfortunately, His To Claim misses the space ship on some of these. Overall it's not a bad story - alien meets human and unwittingly falls in love. There were some funny cross-cultural moments. But the narrative was all over the place - as the story progressed the male alien - D'rek - started sounding like a typical (and human) alpha male. World-building isn't just about throwing a few made up words like "diijo". Alien world-building, like fantasy world-building, should be immersive. It should sound like a place I can easily imagine yet also unfamiliar.
I do have to say that Kira wasn't as bad as I thought she'd be. Kira was a fighter, at least for the first part of the book. What I hoped was that D'rek's huge equipment wouldn't turn her into a lust puppet. It was a bit of both. I will say there were instances D'rek did respect Kira's boundaries and when she said no, he didn't force himself. Still, I just didn't feel the chemistry between these two. The power differential was too apparent. Their worlds were just too different and given the brevity of the book, wasn't fully explored. Of course, there's a sequel.
There's a lot of sex. And I found myself glossing over it because again, no real chemistry. I just wasn't invested in either character.
April 9, 2019
Decades ago I loved E.T. Sweet alien candy sharing love.
Years ago, I discovered Evangeline Anderson. Hot alien monkey sex.
But. With alien-porn, eventually all the stories were the same and I didn’t even bother to buy the next Kindred.
To be fair, I also no longer eat Reese’s Pieces.
Here, the alien is the H, and he’s blue...with intriguing ridges...on both his heads. He’s certainly the Alpha and he comes to town to claim his 21 year old virgin sacrifice/breeder...yeah, a little icky. But the H/h have chemistry, she’s feisty, and the tale takes a rather strong stance on human rights which is a positive. But. Boring. Every name has a ‘ in it, and eventually I couldn’t bother to keep anyone other than the H and h straight. The H certainly went ape over ‘his’ but I never felt it in my happy place.
If you like this genre, dive in, a Kindle is certainly less $ than a ticket to see the Blue Man Group in Vegas.
Years ago, I discovered Evangeline Anderson. Hot alien monkey sex.
But. With alien-porn, eventually all the stories were the same and I didn’t even bother to buy the next Kindred.
To be fair, I also no longer eat Reese’s Pieces.
Here, the alien is the H, and he’s blue...with intriguing ridges...on both his heads. He’s certainly the Alpha and he comes to town to claim his 21 year old virgin sacrifice/breeder...yeah, a little icky. But the H/h have chemistry, she’s feisty, and the tale takes a rather strong stance on human rights which is a positive. But. Boring. Every name has a ‘ in it, and eventually I couldn’t bother to keep anyone other than the H and h straight. The H certainly went ape over ‘his’ but I never felt it in my happy place.
If you like this genre, dive in, a Kindle is certainly less $ than a ticket to see the Blue Man Group in Vegas.
Read
July 1, 2019*Spoilers Ahead"
I am not sure how to rate this book honestly so for the first time I am not giving a star rating. There were things I enjoyed greatly about this book but a big portion of it made me either uncomfortable or angry. I was like Yes! a black female lead (representation matters). A sci-fi or paranormal romance with a black female lead is a rare treat for me. Let alone a series beginning with one. I looked through the 120 plus books that I have read so far in the paranormal romance/ urban fantasy/ sci-fi genres this year. Maybe a handful of them has had POC leads so I eagerly anticipated this read. But it takes more than diverse characters to win me over. And while I liked a lot of other aspects of the story, my mixed emotions come from multiple problematic rapey/borderline rapey scenes. No amount of world-building or interesting storytelling can overshadow that.
I just need to say flat out. If you are not knowledgeable about BDSM or willing to learn about the lifestyle then it is irresponsible to include it in your story. This sentiment is directed not only to this author, but also to the EL James's of the world. At the heart of it, BDSM is meant to include a baseline of safety and true consent. That is why there are so many rules within that community. The BDSM community is not meant to be a safe haven for abusers. So when you go straight into describing a BDSM scene without that baseline knowledge of safety and consent, then what you are describing is abuse/assault.
Our heroine has lived on a starving planet of people who are under the thumb of a tyrannical race. A race that is responsible for the death of her sister and nephew. A race that yearly sends a group of men to rape the local women and another to collect babies from the previous years rapes. And yet all the king of this race has to do is give the heroin a few bare bottom gentle spanks (no other stimulation) and all of a sudden she is aroused and ready to turn on a dime for him.
The version of consent in this story is twisted. This author wants to play with BDSM but not bother with true consent. I actually added a 'rapey/questionable consent' tag based on this book. Rather than a fully consensual BDSM scene with restraints and public sex, the author chose to make the heroine endure a drugged rape in front of another man. In the scene, the heroine said yes repeatedly but again I point to the drugs that she was under the influence of. Having a character say yes and demand sex while under the influence of mind and body altering drugs is not consent. If someone is in forced captivity then that is not consent, especially when their well being and life is solely dependent on the whims of that other person. The fact that the scenes that are clearly rape are treated like titillating sex scenes is particularly disturbing. The drugged humiliation scene, in particular, made my heart hurt and in my view was unforgivable. Just that knowledge of it not being true consent made the scene excruciating for me. And I am sure probably triggered others. Personally, I don't engage with the romance genre to have that experience.
Yes, there are those who want sexual humiliation and exhibitionism in their play. I have no judgments about that. But that is not what this scene was because the heroine never truly consented to it. And the attempt later on in the story to 'make it right' or 'have the shoe on the other foot' so to speak fell short. The hero in no way suffered the same degradation and humiliation he enacted on someone he supposedly loves.
I wanted to love this book. I am curious about this world and I may even read the sequel because of that curiosity. But now having read this first installment I am hesitant to spend the money to be stressed out and hurting over the abuse of fictional women. I was yelling out loud during parts of this story. On second thought I might give the next installment a pass. I don't need that kind of stress in my life. I would rather the world of Ruby Dixon. I'm more into the sweetheart blue aliens of the Ice Planet than the Blue Aliens in this story.
I am not sure how to rate this book honestly so for the first time I am not giving a star rating. There were things I enjoyed greatly about this book but a big portion of it made me either uncomfortable or angry. I was like Yes! a black female lead (representation matters). A sci-fi or paranormal romance with a black female lead is a rare treat for me. Let alone a series beginning with one. I looked through the 120 plus books that I have read so far in the paranormal romance/ urban fantasy/ sci-fi genres this year. Maybe a handful of them has had POC leads so I eagerly anticipated this read. But it takes more than diverse characters to win me over. And while I liked a lot of other aspects of the story, my mixed emotions come from multiple problematic rapey/borderline rapey scenes. No amount of world-building or interesting storytelling can overshadow that.
I just need to say flat out. If you are not knowledgeable about BDSM or willing to learn about the lifestyle then it is irresponsible to include it in your story. This sentiment is directed not only to this author, but also to the EL James's of the world. At the heart of it, BDSM is meant to include a baseline of safety and true consent. That is why there are so many rules within that community. The BDSM community is not meant to be a safe haven for abusers. So when you go straight into describing a BDSM scene without that baseline knowledge of safety and consent, then what you are describing is abuse/assault.
Our heroine has lived on a starving planet of people who are under the thumb of a tyrannical race. A race that is responsible for the death of her sister and nephew. A race that yearly sends a group of men to rape the local women and another to collect babies from the previous years rapes. And yet all the king of this race has to do is give the heroin a few bare bottom gentle spanks (no other stimulation) and all of a sudden she is aroused and ready to turn on a dime for him.
The version of consent in this story is twisted. This author wants to play with BDSM but not bother with true consent. I actually added a 'rapey/questionable consent' tag based on this book. Rather than a fully consensual BDSM scene with restraints and public sex, the author chose to make the heroine endure a drugged rape in front of another man. In the scene, the heroine said yes repeatedly but again I point to the drugs that she was under the influence of. Having a character say yes and demand sex while under the influence of mind and body altering drugs is not consent. If someone is in forced captivity then that is not consent, especially when their well being and life is solely dependent on the whims of that other person. The fact that the scenes that are clearly rape are treated like titillating sex scenes is particularly disturbing. The drugged humiliation scene, in particular, made my heart hurt and in my view was unforgivable. Just that knowledge of it not being true consent made the scene excruciating for me. And I am sure probably triggered others. Personally, I don't engage with the romance genre to have that experience.
Yes, there are those who want sexual humiliation and exhibitionism in their play. I have no judgments about that. But that is not what this scene was because the heroine never truly consented to it. And the attempt later on in the story to 'make it right' or 'have the shoe on the other foot' so to speak fell short. The hero in no way suffered the same degradation and humiliation he enacted on someone he supposedly loves.
I wanted to love this book. I am curious about this world and I may even read the sequel because of that curiosity. But now having read this first installment I am hesitant to spend the money to be stressed out and hurting over the abuse of fictional women. I was yelling out loud during parts of this story. On second thought I might give the next installment a pass. I don't need that kind of stress in my life. I would rather the world of Ruby Dixon. I'm more into the sweetheart blue aliens of the Ice Planet than the Blue Aliens in this story.
January 7, 2020
I don't understand at what point rape have become the most romantic thing in books.
So,main hero is to blame for the death of heroines sister and her baby and it is a direct blame,then he promises revenge for our heroines grief in the form of rape. Fitting, right? So two years skip over he is back,she is not willing to be abused so he hunts her,hurts her,attempts to rape her and that result in her humping him and getting her best orgasm ever. From there on this beautiful love story unfolds. This is Stockholm syndrome mixed with BDSM type of love. But hey,girl gets her orgasms,so it is so,so so romantic. If your brains are in dire need of medical attention. I may have accepted guys point of view,because alien,not thinking like human, cultural thing etc.etc. Him I can forgive the author. What I can't forgive is human females reaction and this whole love thing. Let's keep in mind that BDSM is a consensual agreement between willing participants so it does not even have that aspect to explain heroine. She is dumb,she is unlikable and most importantly her reaction and forgetfulness of wrongs is not normal human behaviour. As is not the reaction of her settlement upon her return.
Worst of all was message that getting raped is not only normal but the best way to fall in love. I don't know if author thinks that calling rape breeding or obvious avoidance of the word " rape" is somehow changing the situation or if she truly believes rape is nothing to fret about,but I hated her message even more for it. I don't even care about the smutty parts,all I did was fuming over romantization of abuse. It never was and never will be ok and if you can't show us that in your books,then maybe you should avoid topic at all.
Disgusting love story with disgusting characters by author who condones and romanticize rape.
So,main hero is to blame for the death of heroines sister and her baby and it is a direct blame,then he promises revenge for our heroines grief in the form of rape. Fitting, right? So two years skip over he is back,she is not willing to be abused so he hunts her,hurts her,attempts to rape her and that result in her humping him and getting her best orgasm ever. From there on this beautiful love story unfolds. This is Stockholm syndrome mixed with BDSM type of love. But hey,girl gets her orgasms,so it is so,so so romantic. If your brains are in dire need of medical attention. I may have accepted guys point of view,because alien,not thinking like human, cultural thing etc.etc. Him I can forgive the author. What I can't forgive is human females reaction and this whole love thing. Let's keep in mind that BDSM is a consensual agreement between willing participants so it does not even have that aspect to explain heroine. She is dumb,she is unlikable and most importantly her reaction and forgetfulness of wrongs is not normal human behaviour. As is not the reaction of her settlement upon her return.
Worst of all was message that getting raped is not only normal but the best way to fall in love. I don't know if author thinks that calling rape breeding or obvious avoidance of the word " rape" is somehow changing the situation or if she truly believes rape is nothing to fret about,but I hated her message even more for it. I don't even care about the smutty parts,all I did was fuming over romantization of abuse. It never was and never will be ok and if you can't show us that in your books,then maybe you should avoid topic at all.
Disgusting love story with disgusting characters by author who condones and romanticize rape.
April 3, 2019
Great read if...you like Sci-fi/Alien romance, hot scenes, royalty, and an HEA.
Side Note: THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING. There are books that make you remember why you love reading and books that make you fall in love with it all over again, and this was the latter. The characters were incredible. The pacing perfect. The steam, chemistry, and execution of various sexual encounters outstanding. While the "plot twist" felt predictable to me, I didn't even care. I was so wrapped in the story and so in love with the characters, it didn't matter. From the moment I started, finishing the book, being lost in the novel, was purely wonderful. The writing was easy to read, had a great flow, and didn't drag at any point. I cannot highly recommend grabbing this book enough, but I am going to keep trying, lol.
Side Note: THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING. There are books that make you remember why you love reading and books that make you fall in love with it all over again, and this was the latter. The characters were incredible. The pacing perfect. The steam, chemistry, and execution of various sexual encounters outstanding. While the "plot twist" felt predictable to me, I didn't even care. I was so wrapped in the story and so in love with the characters, it didn't matter. From the moment I started, finishing the book, being lost in the novel, was purely wonderful. The writing was easy to read, had a great flow, and didn't drag at any point. I cannot highly recommend grabbing this book enough, but I am going to keep trying, lol.
February 27, 2022
a bit uncomfortable but has a good message
This one started off shaky for me. Sci-fi romances like this one often start off with either dub consent or no-consent (rape) encounters and they turn my stomach.
In this book, an alien species, the blue skinned Xalthurians basically subjugated the Hu'mans of New Terrhan and forced them to give them women around 21 years of age for the Xalthurians to breed. When the infant turns two, if it is a male child, the Xalthurians will take the boy and return to their planet to raise away from the Hu'mans.
After watching her sister lose her life after she refused to give up her two year old son, Kira attacked the Kel D'Rek of Xalthurians and spit in his face. That assault against their leader resulted in Kira being taken to their planet, something that was unheard of.
Something about Kira's wilfulness excited the Kel and the more he attempted to dominate her, the more she resisted. That push and pull formed an attraction for both of them and the basis of both races getting to know about the other race.
There was a lot of symbolism in this story, which is why readers shouldn't dismiss it as a simple alien rapes human story. It is really about how Power, technology, military might and money makes some nations (or races) think they are superior to others. If you dig deeper, you will see the message about racism, prejudice and injustice, which is the moral of this series.
On a lighter note, there is a lot of sex, and I found Kira both courageous, smart and humorous. I also found D'Rek to be a leader who thinks for himself and while Kira had his nose wide open, he actually listened to her. That is what people from different backgrounds need, to listen, respect and empathize.
I definitely enjoyed this book.
This one started off shaky for me. Sci-fi romances like this one often start off with either dub consent or no-consent (rape) encounters and they turn my stomach.
In this book, an alien species, the blue skinned Xalthurians basically subjugated the Hu'mans of New Terrhan and forced them to give them women around 21 years of age for the Xalthurians to breed. When the infant turns two, if it is a male child, the Xalthurians will take the boy and return to their planet to raise away from the Hu'mans.
After watching her sister lose her life after she refused to give up her two year old son, Kira attacked the Kel D'Rek of Xalthurians and spit in his face. That assault against their leader resulted in Kira being taken to their planet, something that was unheard of.
Something about Kira's wilfulness excited the Kel and the more he attempted to dominate her, the more she resisted. That push and pull formed an attraction for both of them and the basis of both races getting to know about the other race.
There was a lot of symbolism in this story, which is why readers shouldn't dismiss it as a simple alien rapes human story. It is really about how Power, technology, military might and money makes some nations (or races) think they are superior to others. If you dig deeper, you will see the message about racism, prejudice and injustice, which is the moral of this series.
On a lighter note, there is a lot of sex, and I found Kira both courageous, smart and humorous. I also found D'Rek to be a leader who thinks for himself and while Kira had his nose wide open, he actually listened to her. That is what people from different backgrounds need, to listen, respect and empathize.
I definitely enjoyed this book.
March 30, 2019
This was such a wonderful read, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel so much so that once I downloaded the ARC I didn't stop reading until I was done which was the next morning. The world building and character development was good, although more detail about the home planet and capitol city of the Xalthurians would have been nice. I would have liked to have a better description go the crystal city as well as the palace too. I loved the plot and loved the nuances of the Xalthurians and the reflection on class structure. The plot was believable and consistent so IF something like this were to happened the events that unfolded in the book made sense and could logically happen. Unlike some novels where reactions by characters can be inconsistent, and not likely this novel hit the mark and I found myself excited to turn the page. I am eagerly waiting for book two.
March 31, 2019
Hot as a firecracker 🧨 💣🧨💥
4.5⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
I enjoyed reading this story, I enjoyed the sex , there’s so much of it and it’s really hot , but there’s more. There’s politics that makes you stop and listen, because the subjects speak to you . There’s the treatment of the New Terrhan which seem like slavery or just one step up from Jim Crow , hlD they’re will be an improvement. I can’t to see what happens next .
4.5⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
I enjoyed reading this story, I enjoyed the sex , there’s so much of it and it’s really hot , but there’s more. There’s politics that makes you stop and listen, because the subjects speak to you . There’s the treatment of the New Terrhan which seem like slavery or just one step up from Jim Crow , hlD they’re will be an improvement. I can’t to see what happens next .
Read
July 2, 2020DNF @ 40%
I need 3 "unusual" alien romance books for a scavenger hunt, but I'm just not feeling it right now; I may re-visit later.
FYI-Society is set up, that his race "protects" humans in exchange for 21-yr-olds girls being rounded up once a year to have sex with alien (which is pretty much rape) not betraying body; they just face the wall and are rutted.
I'm bored, and not feeling anything between MC's so I'm moving on.
I need 3 "unusual" alien romance books for a scavenger hunt, but I'm just not feeling it right now; I may re-visit later.
FYI-Society is set up, that his race "protects" humans in exchange for 21-yr-olds girls being rounded up once a year to have sex with alien (which is pretty much rape) not betraying body; they just face the wall and are rutted.
I'm bored, and not feeling anything between MC's so I'm moving on.
August 24, 2021
Normally I do not bother with sci-fi romances, especially ones featuring aliens. But I had to see what Theodora Taylor, and Eve Vaughn came up with. It hooked me early, and already on book 2.
June 8, 2025
3⭐️ I don’t know what to tell you! It’s not the best written book out there and their relationship needed more development, but despite that, I was actually really intrigued by the concept of this alien romance and I enjoyed it quite a lot. It’s one of those books where you don’t need all of your brain cells to understand it, you don’t ask questions, you don’t need it to make sense, you just enjoy it!😂
Oh and also, it’s really SPICY! 🌶️ 😏
Oh and also, it’s really SPICY! 🌶️ 😏
April 3, 2019
WOOOOOW
This Book was so good I couldn’t put it down! I like to read sci fi and paranormal but usually the representation is lacking for WOC. This book is so important because it introduces WOC in to a world that we are rarely ever written in to and I am so excited. With that being said the story line and plot were amazing you’ll be on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happened next. It was such a thrill to read about the alien race and the humans that were created in this galaxy. This was such a great story! I can’t wait for the next installment!
#BWSciFI #Alien
This Book was so good I couldn’t put it down! I like to read sci fi and paranormal but usually the representation is lacking for WOC. This book is so important because it introduces WOC in to a world that we are rarely ever written in to and I am so excited. With that being said the story line and plot were amazing you’ll be on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happened next. It was such a thrill to read about the alien race and the humans that were created in this galaxy. This was such a great story! I can’t wait for the next installment!
#BWSciFI #Alien
May 21, 2020
Good story, well developed characters, with a culture clash between aliens needing human breeders as alien females are sterile. This overdone trope was reasonably well done here, with humans surviving and not fighting each other. The h fought hard to help the alien H to see her view. He was besotted with her, but the time he took to believe her, and act put her at risk. The erotica got in the way of a good story, so I skipped a lot of pages.
November 12, 2019
Wow I'm quite impressed with this new to me author and series.
The world building was great and I felt Kira's pain at their desperate situation. She's a strong woman to defy the aliens. I liked that Kira is a woman of color...we often see diversity in aliens but not so much in their human females.
D'Rek was a jerk at first but soon won me over. He was willing to renegotiate the treaty and make Kira accept him willingly. Can't wait to start the next one.
The world building was great and I felt Kira's pain at their desperate situation. She's a strong woman to defy the aliens. I liked that Kira is a woman of color...we often see diversity in aliens but not so much in their human females.
D'Rek was a jerk at first but soon won me over. He was willing to renegotiate the treaty and make Kira accept him willingly. Can't wait to start the next one.
June 5, 2023
Read this on impulse when it popped up in an ad. It’s not the worst alien romance I’ve read but it’s pretty meh. There were a few parts I disliked immensely.
There will definitely be spoilers in this review so proceed with caution.
I won’t restate the blurb since you’ve likely read it and it gives a good summation of the premise. Going in I assumed this was going to be the alien taking a “breeder” and keeping her for that purpose but it’s not.
The aliens comes once a year and breed all the 21 year old women and leave. The next year they snatch up the male babies from the last go and breed the new 21 year olds etc. I didn’t love that because I came for a relationship. Luckily, new ground is broken with h.
Kel D’rek is instantly attracted to the angry, defiant h. He doesn’t care that she’s angry with him he just wants to breed. He has to wait 2 years to do this and he’s chomping at the bit. She’s not going to make it easy. She tries to hide but then runs when that doesn’t work. He ends up dry humping her when he catches her and knocks her out so he can take her with him. Charming, eh?
She’s furious when she wakes. The H doesn’t seem to understand why she’s being so obstinate. He vacillates between anger and bewilderment but mostly anger. Luckily for her, he can’t quite bring himself to rape her when she starts crying because he doesn’t understand why it makes him feel uncomfortable. So he sets about negotiating permission.
We see the standard hallmarks of Hs growing obsession with h but not understanding why he feels that way. Aside from orgasms the h doesn’t get much out of their relationship. He’s not cruel mostly but oblivious and it grows irksome to her that he views her and other humans so derisively. She, of course, falls in love with the asshole anyway.
One of the things that turned me off here is the references to her female bits. I understand that as aliens they won’t have the same terminology. I’ve read lots of alien romances over time and I haven’t found any others quite so off putting before. Constant reference to her mammary glands and breeding hole and breeding slit became a big turn off.
Xalthurian females were largely wiped out by a virus but I wouldn’t have been shocked if they all just ran away when they were old enough. It’s obviously a largely patriarchal society but these chicks are not only hold no value for their world but get no pleasure from mating. As far as we know it’s not painful but only the dudes enjoy it.
The death blow for this book for me came near the end when H was angry and enacted a vicious punishment. Looking at this punishment objectively I understand that there are readers who would find this scene very hot and sexy to read but it really, not only turned me completely off, but also knocked a whole star off my rating.
H drugs her by feeding a bunch of berries that will make her unbearably aroused, so much so, that it literally physically hurts to not achieve release. He physically immobilizes her so she can’t move. He brings in this guy that he was jealous she was *talking* to in his absence. He torments and tortures her sexually while she begs him to fuck her and he continuously mocks her and denies her orgasm though she’s in literal pain.
It was just a leap too far for me and tanked the book for me. There would no coming back from it. The H realizes the next day he’s fucked up when she’s seemingly broken. I r do think he hurt her immeasurably but some of her brokenness was clearly acting when she broke character to yell at him during it.
H does become desperate to fix his wrongs but the author duo’s solution was laughably inadequate. He sets himself with the immobilization cuffs and the equivalent of the horny berries and leaves him to her mercy. Oh yes, what a punishment 🙄. Having all that wanted and welcomed sexual contact with h will surely be pure torment for him 😒.
She, of course, forgives him pretty much immediately even though he was absolutely merciless with her. He does decide to change things with how they deal with humans and put things more in favor of the poor women they breed - namely a choice.
More things happen, of course, but I was pretty much done with this after that punishment and non-grovel fiasco. I skimmed to the end for closure.
Push away from h
OW drama
OM drama sorta
No separation but h is kidnapped briefly
No cheating
HEA
Safety - H only saw h as a mean to breeding so I think it’s meant to be an excuse but H mentions he had been with others while waiting the 2 years to breed h. I didn’t see it as unsafe specifically because of the situation but I’m more forgiving than some readers.
OW is one of the villains here. H was supposed to make her the queen but he has no feelings for her and is 100% obsessed with h. He, obviously ditched OW and has no intention of marrying her. OW is not amused.
OM drama isn’t really. The OM is a guy she literate only talks to. There is no sexual interest between them. H just overreacted because he’s possessive.
There will definitely be spoilers in this review so proceed with caution.
I won’t restate the blurb since you’ve likely read it and it gives a good summation of the premise. Going in I assumed this was going to be the alien taking a “breeder” and keeping her for that purpose but it’s not.
The aliens comes once a year and breed all the 21 year old women and leave. The next year they snatch up the male babies from the last go and breed the new 21 year olds etc. I didn’t love that because I came for a relationship. Luckily, new ground is broken with h.
Kel D’rek is instantly attracted to the angry, defiant h. He doesn’t care that she’s angry with him he just wants to breed. He has to wait 2 years to do this and he’s chomping at the bit. She’s not going to make it easy. She tries to hide but then runs when that doesn’t work. He ends up dry humping her when he catches her and knocks her out so he can take her with him. Charming, eh?
She’s furious when she wakes. The H doesn’t seem to understand why she’s being so obstinate. He vacillates between anger and bewilderment but mostly anger. Luckily for her, he can’t quite bring himself to rape her when she starts crying because he doesn’t understand why it makes him feel uncomfortable. So he sets about negotiating permission.
We see the standard hallmarks of Hs growing obsession with h but not understanding why he feels that way. Aside from orgasms the h doesn’t get much out of their relationship. He’s not cruel mostly but oblivious and it grows irksome to her that he views her and other humans so derisively. She, of course, falls in love with the asshole anyway.
One of the things that turned me off here is the references to her female bits. I understand that as aliens they won’t have the same terminology. I’ve read lots of alien romances over time and I haven’t found any others quite so off putting before. Constant reference to her mammary glands and breeding hole and breeding slit became a big turn off.
Xalthurian females were largely wiped out by a virus but I wouldn’t have been shocked if they all just ran away when they were old enough. It’s obviously a largely patriarchal society but these chicks are not only hold no value for their world but get no pleasure from mating. As far as we know it’s not painful but only the dudes enjoy it.
The death blow for this book for me came near the end when H was angry and enacted a vicious punishment. Looking at this punishment objectively I understand that there are readers who would find this scene very hot and sexy to read but it really, not only turned me completely off, but also knocked a whole star off my rating.
H drugs her by feeding a bunch of berries that will make her unbearably aroused, so much so, that it literally physically hurts to not achieve release. He physically immobilizes her so she can’t move. He brings in this guy that he was jealous she was *talking* to in his absence. He torments and tortures her sexually while she begs him to fuck her and he continuously mocks her and denies her orgasm though she’s in literal pain.
It was just a leap too far for me and tanked the book for me. There would no coming back from it. The H realizes the next day he’s fucked up when she’s seemingly broken. I r do think he hurt her immeasurably but some of her brokenness was clearly acting when she broke character to yell at him during it.
H does become desperate to fix his wrongs but the author duo’s solution was laughably inadequate. He sets himself with the immobilization cuffs and the equivalent of the horny berries and leaves him to her mercy. Oh yes, what a punishment 🙄. Having all that wanted and welcomed sexual contact with h will surely be pure torment for him 😒.
She, of course, forgives him pretty much immediately even though he was absolutely merciless with her. He does decide to change things with how they deal with humans and put things more in favor of the poor women they breed - namely a choice.
More things happen, of course, but I was pretty much done with this after that punishment and non-grovel fiasco. I skimmed to the end for closure.
Push away from h
OW drama
OM drama sorta
No separation but h is kidnapped briefly
No cheating
HEA
Safety - H only saw h as a mean to breeding so I think it’s meant to be an excuse but H mentions he had been with others while waiting the 2 years to breed h. I didn’t see it as unsafe specifically because of the situation but I’m more forgiving than some readers.
OW is one of the villains here. H was supposed to make her the queen but he has no feelings for her and is 100% obsessed with h. He, obviously ditched OW and has no intention of marrying her. OW is not amused.
OM drama isn’t really. The OM is a guy she literate only talks to. There is no sexual interest between them. H just overreacted because he’s possessive.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 8, 2020
I was craving some alien sci-fi romance, and this was recommended to me by a twitter friend, and was written by two black female authors that I was eager to support. I settled in for a light, crackilicious romance....but this isn't light or cracky, really. It's a hard one to rate, so here goes:
-The romance's beginnings are dubious, at best. There's an undeniable slave/master dynamic that is uncomfortable to read at times, esp with a black heroine. The humans (or hu'mans, as you like), are subjugated and forced to participate in a Breeding Program to survive on an alien planet in return for food rations. The hero rules as the Kel (or King) to the rich aliens, who view humans as little more than vessels to carry hybrid young who are then whisked away to be raised by alien parents (the bio alien dad and his wife, basically). It's a dark theme that is either your cuppa tea or it's not.
-There's some humiliating moments where that imbalance of power is used to force the heroine to submit, which again, difficult to read.
-The heroine does manage to reclaim some agency in the relationship by the end of it all, and the hero does grow emotionally, but the dubious consent colors the romance, and I would have loved to have seen more of a connection that wasn't completely dependent on sex. Aside from their personal negotiation for a sexual relationship (probably the strongest scenes in the book), there's some references to conversations, but mostly, it's about their uncontrollable physical desire for each other.
Basically, by the end I was drawn to the worldbuilding and the emotional journey - again, problematic but not without some emotional punch. I wouldn't recommend this unless you're ok with what I described above, but I didn't hate this.
Since I believe in trying anything at least three times, I'm going to try the next book in the series and see how it goes.
-The romance's beginnings are dubious, at best. There's an undeniable slave/master dynamic that is uncomfortable to read at times, esp with a black heroine. The humans (or hu'mans, as you like), are subjugated and forced to participate in a Breeding Program to survive on an alien planet in return for food rations. The hero rules as the Kel (or King) to the rich aliens, who view humans as little more than vessels to carry hybrid young who are then whisked away to be raised by alien parents (the bio alien dad and his wife, basically). It's a dark theme that is either your cuppa tea or it's not.
-There's some humiliating moments where that imbalance of power is used to force the heroine to submit, which again, difficult to read.
-The heroine does manage to reclaim some agency in the relationship by the end of it all, and the hero does grow emotionally, but the dubious consent colors the romance, and I would have loved to have seen more of a connection that wasn't completely dependent on sex. Aside from their personal negotiation for a sexual relationship (probably the strongest scenes in the book), there's some references to conversations, but mostly, it's about their uncontrollable physical desire for each other.
Basically, by the end I was drawn to the worldbuilding and the emotional journey - again, problematic but not without some emotional punch. I wouldn't recommend this unless you're ok with what I described above, but I didn't hate this.
Since I believe in trying anything at least three times, I'm going to try the next book in the series and see how it goes.
May 13, 2019
Nice try.
Boring story, often too superficial and in the end I can’t remember half of it, anymore.
The heroine felt childish and petulant in her rebellious tantrums, although I liked her development.
The trope was unimaginative.
The world building was uncreative and to top it off, the love story felt not natural. The lust and primal instincts should be an added bonus and interesting push but not all there is in the end. At least in my kind of books.
Boring story, often too superficial and in the end I can’t remember half of it, anymore.
The heroine felt childish and petulant in her rebellious tantrums, although I liked her development.
The trope was unimaginative.
The world building was uncreative and to top it off, the love story felt not natural. The lust and primal instincts should be an added bonus and interesting push but not all there is in the end. At least in my kind of books.
June 9, 2019
I’m in shock!
I’m shocked how good this story is! I thought it was going to be the same old song and dance but it was a very new take on Alien abduction. But it’s not really about abductions as it is about human rights and women rights. It’s also a love story and a dirty one at that. I truly enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to the next one! I hope the audio version comes out around the same time the book releases.
I’m shocked how good this story is! I thought it was going to be the same old song and dance but it was a very new take on Alien abduction. But it’s not really about abductions as it is about human rights and women rights. It’s also a love story and a dirty one at that. I truly enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to the next one! I hope the audio version comes out around the same time the book releases.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 528 reviews